Outside Konoha's Perimeter
Seeing Sasuke charge towards him with Chidori crackling in his left hand, Itachi Uchiha showed no reaction.
Sasuke reached Itachi with incredible speed, then thrust his left hand into Itachi's body.
But there was no joy on Sasuke's face. The Chidori had met no resistance; it had simply passed straight through.
Sasuke, nearly stumbling from the force of his own charge, looked back at Itachi, only to see him dissolve into a flock of fluttering crows.
Not far away, the crows coalesced, reforming into Itachi Uchiha.
"Is that all you've got?" Itachi mocked, looking at Sasuke's disheveled state.
"Damn it," Sasuke cursed under his breath, seeing how easily Itachi had evaded his attack.
The Sharingan was completely useless. He didn't even need to predict Itachi's movements, yet he couldn't land a hit. What was that technique? A crow clone? But he hadn't seen Itachi form any hand seals...
Sasuke had gleaned no information about the technique from that attack.
"Naruto, let's go!" Sasuke said.
"Right!"
A multitude of Naruto's clones charged forward.
Shadow Clones were so useful. The relentless attacks would surely reveal Itachi's weakness. Sasuke glared with his crimson Sharingan, observing carefully. No matter what the technique, it would be exposed under these eyes.
This time, Itachi didn't dissolve into crows. He directly engaged Naruto's clones in hand-to-hand combat.
But they were clearly not in the same league. Although Naruto had many clones, they were completely ineffective.
Itachi, with just a single kunai, held off thousands of Naruto's clones, not even resorting to the Uchiha clan's specialized kunai-throwing techniques.
Seeing Itachi remain so composed amidst Naruto's thousand clones, Sasuke gritted his teeth. But now wasn't the time to get worked up.
While Naruto kept Itachi occupied, Sasuke formed hand seals again...
"Ox—Rabbit—Monkey"
"Chidori!"
Blue light crackled on his hand. Once more, Sasuke charged straight at Itachi, who was currently engaged with Naruto.
This time, Itachi didn't dodge. After quickly clearing the surrounding Naruto clones, he sidestepped and grabbed Sasuke's left wrist, instantly halting Sasuke's advance.
"You're still so weak, Sasuke. Stop getting in the way," Itachi said. With a surge of strength...
A sickening crack echoed as Sasuke's left forearm bent at an unnatural angle.
"Aaaahhhhh!" Sasuke screamed in pain, but Itachi didn't let go...
He lifted Sasuke by his twisted arm, the secondary pain causing Sasuke's face to contort even further.
"Do you feel it... trash? This is the difference between you and me." Itachi leaned close to Sasuke, whispering in his ear...
"Trash like you isn't even worth killing, because..." Itachi's lips curled into a smirk. "I can kill you anytime."
Itachi felt that Sasuke's current desire for power wasn't as intense as before. He needed to stimulate Sasuke further...
Hearing Itachi's words, Sasuke could no longer suppress his inner rage. The curse mark surged again, spreading rapidly until it covered his entire body...
Sasuke's appearance changed drastically. Two wings sprouted from his back, and his entire body turned dark due to the curse mark.
His left arm was broken. Without his dominant left hand, he couldn't use Chidori, let alone form hand seals...
But now, sparks of electricity flickered on his right hand, soon enveloped by black lightning...
In his rage, Sasuke had completed the "Chidori" without forming any hand seals!
"Hmph, you can't escape now," Sasuke said, looking up at Itachi with a cold smile.
Sasuke raised his right hand, thrusting it directly towards Itachi's heart...
His hand pierced through Itachi's heart. A trickle of blood flowed from Itachi's mouth. He opened his mouth, as if saying something, but Sasuke couldn't hear it...
"What else do you have to say...?" Sasuke asked, looking at the blood spilling from Itachi's mouth...
"Behind..."
Sasuke finally heard Itachi's words clearly... But a chill ran down his spine.
He tried to pull free from Itachi, who was still holding his left hand, but another Itachi suddenly appeared from his right, grabbing his right hand...
Fear gripped Sasuke's heart. If his right hand was also crippled, he would truly be at a dead end...
But as if sensing Sasuke's fear...
"Rasengan...!"
The Itachi holding Sasuke's right hand instantly transformed into crows...
"Sasuke, are you alright?" Naruto rushed over to check on Sasuke's injuries.
"Huff... Huff..." Sasuke gasped for breath. "Naruto, run! Head towards the village. The commotion just now should have been noticed. I'll hold him off for a while..."
"What are you talking about? I can't just abandon my comrades and run," Naruto shouted at Sasuke, indignant.
"Idiot, you big idiot...!" Sasuke lost his patience, roaring at Naruto. "Their target is you! Only if you leave will we be safe. Karin and Sakura are here. As long as you leave, I'll stall them. They won't attack us anymore."
"But... but..." Naruto hesitated. If he left, would the enemy really spare Sasuke, Sakura, and Karin? Naruto didn't dare gamble. Everyone present was incredibly important to him...
"There are no buts... Just go...!" Sasuke shouted at Naruto, seeing Itachi gradually approaching.
"No, I won't run away alone. If I'm going, I'm taking you all with me!" Naruto's eyes suddenly hardened, looking at Itachi, who was now within arm's reach.
"Idiot..." Sasuke cursed, seeing Naruto standing in front of him.
Sasuke was also gambling. There were two enemies. It was likely that if Naruto ran, one would pursue him, while the other remained to deal with Sasuke. The power gap between him and Itachi was enormous. Although he didn't know why Itachi was holding back from killing him, this was a chance...
Besides, the three uses of Chidori had been quite loud. The village should have noticed. Naruto staying here was exactly what the enemy wanted...
"Stupid fox, lend me some chakra, quick!" Naruto shouted in his mind, seeing Itachi right in front of him.
"Oh... The Nine-Tails' power?" Itachi muttered, seeing the red chakra constantly emanating from Naruto's body.
"Hai-Inu-Tori-Saru-Hitsuji" Biting his finger, Naruto formed hand seals and pressed his hand to the ground...
"Ninpou - Summoning Jutsu!"
A huge cloud of smoke erupted from Naruto's hand pressed on the ground. Naruto's heart instantly settled...
"As long as Gamabunta is here, we can all escape," Naruto thought.
As the smoke cleared, the sight before Naruto nearly made his jaw drop...
"Hi!" A miniature toad squatted on the ground, greeting Naruto.
"Wh... Why are you...? I used the Nine-Tails' chakra," Naruto said, looking at his hands in disbelief.
"The Nine-Tails' chakra is truly delicious. Samehada has never been this excited..." Kisame suddenly appeared between Naruto and Sasuke...
The large sword wrapped in bandages had revealed its true form. The mouth at the tip of the blade was licking its tongue and wriggling.
Naruto felt a wave of weakness wash over him as his chakra was constantly drained...
"Nine-Tails capture, complete," Kisame announced, their mission more than accomplished.